England’s hopes of progressing to the Champions Trophy semifinals looked good after captain Alastair Cook’s 64 helped them set a target of 170 for New Zealand to win on Sunday.
Kiwis, however, lost some early wickets to lose control of the reduced game. Play was delayed because of rain and the game was subsequently reduced to 24 overs per side. At the time of going to press, New Zealand were 74/5 in 15 overs, needing another 96 runs with five wickets and 54 balls remaining.
James Anderson had struck early, dismissing openers luke Ronchi and Martin Guptill in the fourth over when New Zealand had reached 14 runs. Ronchi had made two and Guptill 9. Ross Taylor also departed cheaply at three runs off Tim Bresnan. Ravi Bopara accounted for the big wicket in Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum when Joe Root caught him fabulously at deep square leg. Bopara got the next one too, sending James Franklin back for six.
Earlier, Cook provided the foundation for England’s innings, hitting four fours and two rare sixes, but he was fortunate to stay at the crease so long as Nathan McCullum dropped the England captain three times. McCullum finally caught Cook at the fourth attempt off his own bowling but, with wickets in hand, Eoin Morgan (15) and Jos Buttler (14) added valuable runs to the total.
Opener Ian Bell (10) was lucky not be caught in the second over after his attempted drive down the ground presented James Franklin with a chance, but the New Zealand fielder let the ball slip through his fingers. Bell was not so fortunate in the next over, slapping Mitchell McClenaghan’s delivery straight to Brendon McCullum at short cover who took a brilliant reaction catch.
Jonathan Trott (8) entered the crease at No. 3 for England and started brightly, driving his first ball for two before adding a boundary soon after with a confident drive. Trott’s positive start was brought to an abrupt end as he flicked a ball into the hands of Nathan McCullum to leave England 29-2. The wicket was New Zealand seamer Kyle Mills’ 25th in the Champions Trophy which makes him the leading wicket taker in the history of the tournament.
New Zealand swapped Mills (4-30) and McClenaghan (3-36) for Franklin and spinner Daniel Vettori and England’s runrate slowed as Cook and Joe Root struggled to find boundaries on a heavy outfield. Cook looked settled in the middle but could have been caught in the eighth over as the England captain hooked the ball in the air through midwicket but Nathan McCullum failed to take the opportunity.
Brief Scores
Eng: 169 in 23.3 overs (Cook 64, Root 38; Mills 4/30, McClenaghan 3/36) against NZ: 74/5 in 15 overs (Williamson 35 not out; Anderson 2/12).